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After talks between India's Union Minister for Science and Technology (S&T) Dr Jitendra Singh and Australian Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and Digital Economy Dr Andrew Charlton MP, India and Australia agreed to expand and restructure their S&T partnership towards mission-oriented cooperation in the field of critical and emerging technologies.
The Ministers reviewed the progress of the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF), which will complete two decades in 2026, and welcomed the finalisation of five joint research projects under the 16th phase of the programme.
These projects relate to processing critical minerals, quantum technology, advanced manufacturing, climate resilient agriculture and cellular immunotherapy and reflect more robust synergy of bilateral research with clean energy transition, resilient supply chains and advanced biotechnology.
The two projects supported by the Department of Biotechnology will advance the development of heat-tolerant crops and cellular immunotherapy solutions for viral infections in patients with weakened immune systems. Both the Ministers noted that the joint declaration of the results of Phase-16 will be an important step towards strengthening applied research partnerships.
Both countries agreed to deepen the two-way movement of researchers, including joint doctoral and postdoctoral programmes, industry-linked fellowships, and co-supervision models to ensure that this partnership is future-ready.
